Safety study of different intensity anticoagulation therapy of warfarin in octogenarian patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the safety of different intensity anticoagulation therapy of warfarin in preventing thromboembolism in octogenarian patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). Methods The 130 patients with persistent or permanent NVAF were randomly divided into three groups low-intensity warfarin group (35 cases, international normalized ratio, INR (1.5-2.0), moderate-intensity warfarin group (32 cases, INR 2.1-2.5) and aspirin control group (63 cases). The rate of hemorrhagic events and the effect on renal function were observed. Results The incidence of hemorrhage was the lowest in low-intensity warfarin group compared to the other groups with slight bleeding in one case. life-threatening bleeding in one case, severe bleeding in one case and slight bleeding in four cases occurred in moderate-intensity warfarin group. Life-threatening bleeding in three cases, severe bleeding in two cases and slight bleeding in six cases occurred in aspirin control group. There were significant differences in bleeding incidence among the three groups (χ2=5.13,P＜0.05). The low-intensity warfarin group and moderate-intensity warfarin group were superior to the aspirin control group in the effect on renal function (P＜0.05). Conclusions It is safe that the dose of warfarin is maintained at low anticoagulation intensity between INR 1.5 and 2.0 in octogenarians with NVAF.